A review by ninaandtheb00ks
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

4.0

there is really only one author who can keep me so engaged throughout a 300 page book where basically nothing happens… and it’s sally rooney. i don’t know what it is about her stories and writing, but i find it so fascinating. on the one hand, the characters in her work can be annoying and obnoxious - their lives would be so much easier if they just stopped talking about marxism and would go to therapy already - but on the other hand i find them extremely relatable. the way they think about climate change, sexism and relationships (to name a few) is so similar to the way my friends and i speak about it, that i really think rooney speaks for our generation. moreover, the way these topics are discussed is so interesting. for instance, i loved the way rooney used the character alice, who is a writer. in that way she can discuss what it means to write about sex and love when there seems to be a general consensus in our age that all novels need to be “deep” and “profound.” however, if anything, i think the pandemic has shown us just how profound sex and love really are, and how integral they are to our lives, making these topics more important than ever. personally, i think this is her best novel so far. i loved simon and eileen!!! the only reason i didn’t give it five stars is felix’s character: what was his purpose in the novel? he is such a dick? i think alice deserves better. i have no idea why she puts up with him, or even why he acts that way in the first place.